Possible move LA to GR...Can we hack it? (school, live)

[paulieB]

To the original post: I think it's up to you. I have moved all around in my younger years, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio..... you get the point. I settled here about 15 years ago and been here since.

I recently had to make a choice to stay with the company and move to Missouri or stay and get laid off. Well I moved and started setting up shop down there.

After a year of trying I gave up and quit the job and came back here to grow old employed or unemployed.

You see it really didn't matter that I had moved around all those years and knew I could "hack it" but rather I grew roots and felt out of place and unhappy in a different town/state.

If you've grown roots and become a part of California it's my opinion that no matter what town you try to relocate it won't work. You might percieve that a town is filled with "wacko's and "nuts", people are unfriendly, and you can't wait to move. But in the end it's because you're not happy.

If you truly want to move to a different location and ready to embrace the change then West Michigan is a great place to do it. IMO.

[brbie419]

Originally Posted by suydam

Where do you live?

I think characterizing an entire state, or even an entire metropolitan region as "rude" or "wackos" is way too generalized.

How long have you lived here? Where else have you lived? How much education do you have? What is your career? I have lived in GR when in MI. But when I have traveled around this state, I have seen no difference in people in other cities than from GR. I don't think I am being too generalized. When I have lived in other places, like OR, HI, AZ, VA, CO, people have been way different. I mean, so different, as in nice and polite, etc that I notice it immediately from MI to other places. Maybe I have just had a run of psychos and this includes other educated people who have been my employers, that now I cannot think of MI any other way. The bottom line is that people are stuck up and rude here. If you cannot admit it or cannot see it, then I wager you are part of the problem.

[suydam]

Originally Posted by brbie419

How long have you lived here? Where else have you lived? How much education do you have? What is your career? I have lived in GR when in MI. But when I have traveled around this state, I have seen no difference in people in other cities than from GR. I don't think I am being too generalized. When I have lived in other places, like OR, HI, AZ, VA, CO, people have been way different. I mean, so different, as in nice and polite, etc that I notice it immediately from MI to other places. Maybe I have just had a run of psychos and this includes other educated people who have been my employers, that now I cannot think of MI any other way. The bottom line is that people are stuck up and rude here. If you cannot admit it or cannot see it, then I wager you are part of the problem.

That's me! Stuck up and rude.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by brbie419

How long have you lived here? Where else have you lived? How much education do you have? What is your career? I have lived in GR when in MI. But when I have traveled around this state, I have seen no difference in people in other cities than from GR. I don't think I am being too generalized. When I have lived in other places, like OR, HI, AZ, VA, CO, people have been way different. I mean, so different, as in nice and polite, etc that I notice it immediately from MI to other places. Maybe I have just had a run of psychos and this includes other educated people who have been my employers, that now I cannot think of MI any other way. The bottom line is that people are stuck up and rude here. If you cannot admit it or cannot see it, then I wager you are part of the problem.

LOL, I don't think everybody else is the problem. Sometimes you have to admit when you are the problem. I've also been all over the US and lived in vary different States, and Michigan is one of the friendliest States I have been to.

Before you ask. 46 YO, lived out of Michigan for 20+ years in the Northeast, and South and have spent more than two weeks in 47 of the 50 states. College grad (a couple of times). Make a living as an Electrician, but have done many other white collar jobs over the years. I just prefer to work in different places with different people most of the time, so this gives me that chance without sacrificing the bottom line much. I don't really see where these things mean a thing though in this discussion. A person doesn't need to have either a white or blue collar job to know people. Nor do they have to have college degrees to interact with others. Education, career, bank balance, etc... does not, or at least should not, change the way people interact with each other. If these things change the way you deal with somebody, then I think we just found the problem. There either isn't enough snooty, Country Club types around GR; or there are those around and they are not sharing their hard earned gains with you.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by brbie419

How long have you lived here? Where else have you lived? How much education do you have? What is your career? I have lived in GR when in MI. But when I have traveled around this state, I have seen no difference in people in other cities than from GR. I don't think I am being too generalized. When I have lived in other places, like OR, HI, AZ, VA, CO, people have been way different. I mean, so different, as in nice and polite, etc that I notice it immediately from MI to other places. Maybe I have just had a run of psychos and this includes other educated people who have been my employers, that now I cannot think of MI any other way. The bottom line is that people are stuck up and rude here. If you cannot admit it or cannot see it, then I wager you are part of the problem.

brbie419, find someplace else other than city-data to spend your time while you endure your last days in such a stuck up and rude place. We don't need people on here picking fights with other members.

Thanks.

(if you post again looking at instigating arguments, you'll be banned from the site).

[gunder14]

Maybe it's one of those situations where you find what you're looking for. I know that i've had my problems with meeting people and sometimes I think that the people here are douchers but generally i've found that over time, that's because I probably wasn't the most congenial in the first place. i've definitely noticed a change in attitude around here with the weather change. A little sunshine works wonders sometimes. When I was spending some time out west I always took pride in talking to other out of state midwesterners about how people are so nice "back home" and it was generally agreed upon that the people here are more agreeable than most. I, along with most others, consider myself to be pretty friendly and all, so I get aggravated when I run into people that act all stuck up and all of that. It's like, hey man, when times are bad, atleast we have one thing we can look forward to and that's not wanting to go postal on one another. Sometimes I feel like it's an uphill battle here with trying to engage people and create an open atmosphere but then on the other hand, in CA, I lived next to a bunch of crackheads and drunks who were constantly trying to trade half empty condiments out of their fridge for pot. Gotta work with what you have, I suppose.

[HighlandsGal]

Originally Posted by brbie419

How long have you lived here? Where else have you lived? How much education do you have? What is your career? I have lived in GR when in MI. But when I have traveled around this state, I have seen no difference in people in other cities than from GR. I don't think I am being too generalized. When I have lived in other places, like OR, HI, AZ, VA, CO, people have been way different. I mean, so different, as in nice and polite, etc that I notice it immediately from MI to other places. Maybe I have just had a run of psychos and this includes other educated people who have been my employers, that now I cannot think of MI any other way. The bottom line is that people are stuck up and rude here. If you cannot admit it or cannot see it, then I wager you are part of the problem.

Okay dude. I live in Denver, spend a ton of time in Boulder. Grew up in Grand Rapids and lived there for 28 years. Been in CO for 3. People are people. I don't notice a difference in attitudes in Michiganders vs. Coloradans.

[Mama Pam]

I used to live in the Grand Rapids area and I still read about the news there. Therefore, I read that the new art museum was listed as one of the best public buildings built in 2009 IN THE WORLD! I think...because of the 'green-ness' of the building...not sure of the details. Look into it. It is a pretty impressive from the images I saw of it.

Also, a great little Lake Michigan town is Saugatuck for that artsy-feel but may be waaaaay too small for you but a nice place to visit. Also, there are a lot of very,very nice restaurants in and near the downtown area. The ' 1913 Room ' in the Amway Grand Hotel is the only AAA 5-star restaurant in the state and has ranked as such many times. Order a visitors guide from the chamber for GR.

Also, East Grand Rapids is very nice and has a small lake with a great little park on its edge...excellent schools (tops in the area) and cool little shops. It is considered to be an up-scale area within all of the GR area.

And as previous posts have stated, the Amway folks and Fred Meijer, of the Meijer stores have given soooooooo much to the area. GR has a lot of stuff going on all of the time and thanks to them, a great arena and convention center.

Also, I have lived from liberal Bozeman, Montana, to Wyoming, to Houston, to northern Michgan and Grand Rapids and I have found that conservatives are more tolerant than are liberals....live and let live, I say.

[tfantasy]

1. Where can you find good produce (preferably organic) and other food items during winter?

2. What do early-30's "tweeners" like us do around town? (tweeners meaning no longer that interested in the regular bar scene but not quite yet in kiddie-mode) I don't know... galleries, places to see live music, great one-of-a-kind restaurants, festivals, stuff like that...

1. I shop at Harvest Health Foods, which is awesome for a nice variety of healthier food choices. Meijer and Family Fare also sell healthier food choices. All of these stores are in the Grand Rapids area.

2. There are quite a few places you can go to enjoy yourselves. There are several places to enjoy different types of music, museums, festivals, and other neat places or activities that you can enjoy. It is a far distance from the style of San Francisco and Los Angeles,though I have never been to either place.

I think that you will be just fine living in Grand Rapids; just be sure it is what you really want to do before you come here!!

[francishsu]

Man, I wish our family was in a position to move TO SF or southwest Cal. My parents live south of LA, so we visit them every couple of years. There's just no comparison when it comes to climate and the variety of things to do. It's not so much that GR is bad, but weather is a big factor for me and I don't know if there's a climate aside from the west/southwest US that I can really appreciate. I don't like the winters here, and spring/fall are too short. Some winters it can be depressingly cloudy for long periods of time. On the other hand, summers here are pleasant and the humidity is tolerable.

I do think that GR is a good place to raise a family. There are a number of quality school districts, and the affordable housing/low cost of living makes it a great combination to raise children without breaking the bank.

So you might feel that GR is a sleepy city. As far as conservative goes, it's kind of a mixed bag from my perspective. I think most people here are respectful if they sense you have differences of opinion or belief. Unfortunately at work, there are enough people of the same mindset that I get to listen to them trash Obama and government on a regular basis. i.e. they're not talking to me about it, they're talking to each other.